March 18 – A short-lived experiment of the first public buses (holding eight passengers) begins in Paris.

May 3 – John Winthrop the Younger, the son of the first governor of Massachusetts, is honoured by being made a fellow of the Royal Society, England's new scientific society. Winthrop uses his election to the Society to gain access to the king, who grants him a new charter, uniting the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven.